Most high brightness projectors available now use either Xenon lamps or ultra high performance (UHP) Mercury arc lamps. High-wattage Xenon lamps are often used in projectors for digital cinema, large venues, and for fixed installations. Such projectors typically use Xenon lamps with wattage range of 2-6 kW, and have brightness in the range of 10,000-30,000 lumens. High-wattage Xenon lamps have relatively short lifetime, typically in the range of 500-1000 hours. UHP Mercury arc lamps are often used in compact and portable projectors for home or office use. Such projectors typically use UHP Mercury arc lamps with wattage range of 120-350 W, and have brightness in the range of 1000-5000 lumens. UHP Mercury arc lamps have a typical lifetime of about 2000 hours, which is still relatively short.
Therefore, it is desirable to have projectors that utilize light sources with much longer lifetimes while still providing suitable brightness.